Mozambique: Court closes Austral Seguros - report
Noticias
Pre-measured foods and beverages with labelling problems may be subject to sanctioning from next July in a measure aimed at bringing commerce into line with legislation and minimising public health problems.
Under current legislation, all pre-measured and packaged products sold on the domestic market must be labelled in Portuguese and also explain the details of food and beverages in other languages.
The measure, enacted in 2006 and 2010, is not implemented by some manufacturers or representatives of several imported products, with labels written entirely in languages other than Portuguese.
Alfredo Sitoe, director general of the National Institute for Standardisation and Quality (INNOQ), told Noticias that his institution was preparing to start monitoring labels and imposing corrective measures, include prohibiting the sale of articles that violate the law.
He said that the nationwide operation would start in July, and would be carried out in coordination with the National Inspection of Economic Activities (INAE).
Representatives and foreign companies involved in importing food and beverages into the country have asked for a postponement of the enforcement in order to gain time to change labels, but, considering that the latest regulations date from 2010, the appeal is not taken seriously by authorities.
Decree-Law 2/2010, of December 31, establishes the rules of measurement and specifies that the label of any pre-measured product sold in the country must be, among other languages, in Portuguese.
According to Sitoe, this obligation concerning production, distribution, marketing, the inspection of food products has been in force since 2006, more than enough reason not to further delay tackling those who are still ignoring it.
Parallel to the campaign on food and beverage labelling, INNOQ and INAE are currently monitoring the weight of pre-measured foods to ensure that consumers are not being cheated.
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